Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Research Institute for Women and Gender Studies, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Research Institute for Women and Gender Studies, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain.
Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Feb;112:103936. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103936. Epub 2022 Dec 28.
The increase in alcohol consumption among young women has been the most striking change in drinking culture in Spain in recent years. This study sets out to examine how images and stories about alcohol consumption are presented on Instagram, the strategies for constructing them, and the impact of social norms, including gender norms, on the strategies of making alcohol consumption visible.
We have carried out a digital ethnography study in which different research techniques have been applied. We held 13 discussion groups, conducted a three-month period of observation on Instagram, and 38 in-depth interviews of young Spanish men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 (N = 118).
The representation of alcohol consumption on Instagram by young people shows fashionable party spaces for shared disinhibition, fun and youth gatherings. This social network permits different types of alcohol advertising and promotion of the image associated with its consumption, and is thus a space that brands and influencers exploit. Young people avoid the diffusion on Instagram of images related to their heavy use of alcohol through particular strategies. They untag, delete or avoid using their smartphone; and they choose the audience to whom images are directed, and the areas of publication. The desire to be posting and exhibiting constantly converges with embarrassment and precaution with (un)known audiences. Gender is a key element for understanding the differences in the way in which posts on Instagram related to drinking and drunkenness affect young people.
Our data show that Instagram fosters the spreading of an ideal model of "alcohol consumption" online that tends to conceal the adverse effects of the substance, and that the online diffusion of behaviour concerning drinking is not gender-neutral.
近年来，西班牙饮酒文化中最显著的变化是年轻女性饮酒量的增加。本研究旨在探讨在 Instagram 上展示关于饮酒的形象和故事的方式、构建这些方式的策略以及社会规范（包括性别规范）对可见饮酒策略的影响。
我们进行了一项数字民族志研究，应用了不同的研究技术。我们举行了 13 个讨论小组，在 Instagram 上进行了为期三个月的观察，并对 15 至 24 岁的西班牙年轻男女进行了 38 次深入访谈（N=118）。
年轻人在 Instagram 上展示的饮酒行为表现出时尚的派对空间，用于共同放松、娱乐和青年聚会。这个社交网络允许不同类型的酒精广告和与其消费相关的形象推广，因此是品牌和影响者利用的空间。年轻人通过特定的策略避免在 Instagram 上发布与他们大量饮酒有关的图像。他们取消标记、删除或避免使用智能手机；他们选择要发布的受众和发布区域。不断发布和展示的愿望与对（未知）受众的尴尬和谨慎相吻合。性别是理解 Instagram 上与饮酒和醉酒相关的帖子对年轻人影响差异的关键因素。
我们的数据表明，Instagram 助长了“饮酒”的理想模式在网上传播，这种模式往往掩盖了物质的不良影响，而且饮酒行为的在线传播不是性别中立的。
